On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:53:10 GMT, "Grumpy Old Man"
wrote:

The only way to get good, spacious, affordable housing in Britain is to have a
smaller population. It's gone up 50% in the past hundred years.

There is that. The other option would be to become more like Germany
and less London-centric. Serious tax breaks for locating employment
in a city other than London would be a good start, and the Government
should seriously look towards any new civil service jobs that don't
*have* to be in London being somewhere else instead.

The other problem (the "affordable" bit) is that houses should be to
live in, not to invest in.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

In message
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:53:10 GMT, "Grumpy Old Man"
wrote:

The only way to get good, spacious, affordable housing in Britain is to
have a smaller population. It's gone up 50% in the past hundred years.

There is that. The other option would be to become more like Germany
and less London-centric. Serious tax breaks for locating employment
in a city other than London would be a good start, and the Government
should seriously look towards any new civil service jobs that don't
*have* to be in London being somewhere else instead.

They've been trying that since the 1950s at least, works well doesn't it?


The other problem (the "affordable" bit) is that houses should be to
live in, not to invest in.


If you want to rent somewhere to live someone else has to invest in buying it
in the first place.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:21:21 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

They've been trying that since the 1950s at least, works well doesn't it?

Do you propose that further growth of London is feasible, then?

If you want to rent somewhere to live someone else has to invest in buying it
in the first place.

This is true, though the difference between rents and mortgages in
many places suggests that there is not a correct balance.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

In message
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:21:21 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

They've been trying that since the 1950s at least, works well doesn't it?

Do you propose that further growth of London is feasible, then?

I'd say it was inevitable.


If you want to rent somewhere to live someone else has to invest in
buying it in the first place.

This is true, though the difference between rents and mortgages in
many places suggests that there is not a correct balance.


Which means?

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:38:58 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

Do you propose that further growth of London is feasible, then?

I'd say it was inevitable.

I'd say we should be doing our utmost to avoid it, unless it is things
that can go on only in London.

This is true, though the difference between rents and mortgages in
many places suggests that there is not a correct balance.

Which means?

It is vastly cheaper to rent than buy on a monthly basis in many
places these days. Certainly, in Milton Keynes one would pay about
£500 per month to rent a one-bed flat but £700-800 per month to
purchase it using a repayment mortgage. The main reason for this is
that there is a glut of rental property on the market. Given the
limited amount of property, this will necessarily cause purchase
prices to rise.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

"Neil Williams" wrote

It is vastly cheaper to rent than buy on a monthly basis in many
places these days. Certainly, in Milton Keynes one would pay about
£500 per month to rent a one-bed flat but £700-800 per month to
purchase it using a repayment mortgage. The main reason for this is
that there is a glut of rental property on the market. Given the
limited amount of property, this will necessarily cause purchase
prices to rise.

If the owners of buy to rent property start to think that property sale
prices have stopped rising they will sell and invest the money elsewhere -
this will increase the stock of sale property and bring prices down, while
reducing the stock of rental property pushing rental costs up.

Peter

"Peter Masson" wrote in message
...

"Neil Williams" wrote

It is vastly cheaper to rent than buy on a monthly basis in many
places these days. Certainly, in Milton Keynes one would pay about
£500 per month to rent a one-bed flat but £700-800 per month to
purchase it using a repayment mortgage. The main reason for this is
that there is a glut of rental property on the market. Given the
limited amount of property, this will necessarily cause purchase
prices to rise.

If the owners of buy to rent property start to think that property sale
prices have stopped rising they will sell and invest the money elsewhere -
this will increase the stock of sale property and bring prices down,

lets' hope so :-)

tim

while
reducing the stock of rental property pushing rental costs up.

Peter

In message
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:38:58 +0000, Graeme Wall
wrote:

Do you propose that further growth of London is feasible, then?

I'd say it was inevitable.

I'd say we should be doing our utmost to avoid it, unless it is things
that can go on only in London.

Who is this We?


This is true, though the difference between rents and mortgages in
many places suggests that there is not a correct balance.

Which means?

It is vastly cheaper to rent than buy on a monthly basis in many
places these days. Certainly, in Milton Keynes one would pay about
£500 per month to rent a one-bed flat but £700-800 per month to
purchase it using a repayment mortgage. The main reason for this is
that there is a glut of rental property on the market.

Which presumably explains why rents seem to be increasing rapidly at the
moment.

Given the limited amount of property, this will necessarily cause purchase
prices to rise.


Have you looked out of your window lately?

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html